The Bride's Portion. Susan Paul

crave. Your brother, Willem, seems meet enough, but your aunt and twin brothers—”

      “Yes, I know,” he interrupted in an angry tone. “My younger brothers are wild, untamed fiends, as you know firsthand. Our mother died seven years ago when they were but eight years of age, and they’ve been out of hand ever since. Even before then they were my father’s favorites, and spoiled beyond enduring. After my mother’s death he kept them close to himself and gave them free rein. No one was allowed to reprimand them, and he certainly never did. He coddled them into just the sort of creatures whom you met yesterday, and since his death I’ve not had much luck in taming them.”

      “Then you are much to be pitied, my Lord Gyer.”

      Something about the tone of her voice made Alexander defensive. “I have tried to discipline them, my lady.”

      “I’m sure you have, my lord. Now, about my guards—”

      He raised a hand to stop her. “I saw to them this morn. They have been moved to suitable quarters and are being kept under watch. I’ve made it clear that they’re to be allowed as much freedom as possible with supervision. Their meals will be the same as those that you are given, so that you will know they are well fed.”

      She seemed satisfied with this and rose to leave. “That is well, then. I should like to return to the chamber you’ve given us, my lord, and inform my maid of our situation. We will devote the remainder of the morn praying for a resolution to the problem at hand, as it is now far too late to attend mass.”

      She sounded just like the nuns she’d once lived with, Alexander thought as he rose to escort her. “You must not worry, Lady Lillis, over your care while you remain at Gyer.” He spoke the words without thought, as simple courtesy. “I swear by God’s holy name that you and your companions shall be treated as though you were members of my own family.”

      She seemed to find his words quite amusing, for she smiled, then laughed, and looked and sounded so beautiful doing so that it nearly stole Alexander’s breath away.

      “My lord,” she said, “I do hope you’ll not take my words amiss, but I promise you that my companions and I would far rather be counted your prisoners than ever be considered members of the family Baldwin.”

      Chapter Three

      Lillis hadn’t slept well the night before, either. The chamber she and Edyth had been taken to was comfortable enough; indeed, more than comfortable. It was lavish compared to the spare, plain room they’d been used to at the convent. The furniture in the chamber was finely made, ornamented with delicate carvings and embroidered with intricately sewn needlework. Artful tapestries covered the walls, depicting scenes of romance and adventure, and in the center of the room sat a large bed, heavily curtained with rich, burgundy-colored velvet hung by gold rings. The feather down mattress in the bed was unimaginably soft, and both she and Edyth regarded it with some awe before allowing themselves to actually sit on it. Their beds at the convent had been about as comfortable as a cold stone floor.

      Lillis had realized immediately that the chamber was meant for the lady of the castle, for there were many feminine touches declaring both its rank and occupancy. Silver brushes and an ivory comb sat on a silver tray in front of a highly polished steel mirror, perfume decanters offered the exotic scents of sandalwood and lilac, and a woman’s jewelry chest made of fine cedarwood sat on a lady’s dressing table next to a silver filigreed makeup box.

      Servants came and went, bearing trays of food and drink and buckets filled with hot water with which they filled a large wooden tub set beside the fire. They went about their duties in a meaningful silence and left Lillis and Edyth alone in the chamber without speaking one word to either of them.

      The food and wine that had been brought tasted better than anything Lillis had ever eaten, probably, she knew, because she was half starved and also because she was so used to the simple food that the nuns at Tynedale ate. She had no doubt that the food at Gyer was better than the viands that would nourish them at Wellewyn would be, if they ever got to Wellewyn, because her father was very poor and could not afford fine cooks and expensive fare.

      “If we must be prisoners, at least we’ll be well-fed prisoners,” she jested with Edyth, who was in a trancelike state after taking a bite of pears cooked with wine and raisins.

      After their meal they undressed and bathed in the still-warm bathwater. A bar of scented soap was included with the provided necessaries and the two women exclaimed over it. At the convent they’d been used to washing with rough soap that smelled like the sheeps’ fat it was made from, but this soap was soft and soothing and smelled like lavender. They dug through their belongings and pulled on their nightclothes.

      They’d gone to bed, both of them amazed anew at the softness of the mattress, and Lillis could tell by her steady breathing that Edyth had fallen to sleep almost immediately. Lillis herself, however, had spent much of the night awake, trying to sort out their situation, and now she was suffering for it.

      She sat back in the comfortable chair she’d been sitting in for some hours and forced her eyes to stay open. The midday sun filtered through the many windows at the end of the great hall where she and Edyth were passing their time, and the light and warmth made Lillis feel sleepy. Just beyond the windows she could see glimpses of a beautiful garden. How she would love to explore that garden, to smell the fragrance of the flowers and feel the breeze on her face. Never before, until she’d been denied them, had she so missed the clean smell of fresh air, or the giving of the earth beneath her feet. There were two guards now, standing nearby, who would protest if she tried to enjoy such simple freedoms, for Alexander of Gyer had made it clear that she was not to be allowed outside the castle walls unless he was present.

      “Careful, dear!” came Edyth’s voice, startling Lillis.

      She looked and saw that she’d dropped her needlework onto the rushes that covered the floor. The rushes were clean and looked as if they’d recently been placed down, but Lillis scooped her material up just in case. She took too much pride in her needlework to take any chances with it. Folding it on her lap, she glanced across the room. With some amusement she saw the women who were sitting at the other end of the hall quickly lower their interested eyes.

      “He said they would be only too happy to receive us here,” she remarked, more to herself than to Edyth.

      “What was that, dear?” Edyth looked up from her needlework.

      Lillis nodded in the direction of the group of women. “Them. The womenfolk of Castle Gyer. Alexander of Gyer assured me this morn that we would be well received by them, but it seems that the only thing those ladies well receive is the gossip Aunt Leta gives them. I can see from here that she says a few words, then looks our way, says a few words, then looks our way...” Lillis craned her neck to see the women better. There were seven sitting together in a group, bent over needlework and talking when they weren’t staring at Edyth and herself. “I wonder which one is his betrothed?”

      “Whose betrothed?” Edyth asked, then added, “Lillis, it is quite rude for you to stare at them so!”

      “I know, Edyth, but if they’re going to sit there and look at us as though we were oddities we can certainly return the favor.”

      Edyth sighed and looked back to her needlework. “Whose betrothed?” she repeated.

      “The Lord of Gyer’s. She was supposed to be one of the women who would be happy to welcome us here. She is also his cousin.”

      “My goodness, you certainly did learn a great deal during your meeting with him this morn.”

      She certainly had, Lillis thought with heartfelt sincerity.

      The moment she’d seen the two men standing in that chamber she thought perhaps she’d walked through the wrong door by mistake. Neither of them looked like the man who had introduced himself to her the night before. One of them, the one nearest her whose face was a vivid red color, was much too tall to be Alexander of Gyer, and the other, who stood behind